On this day in 2011, Brendan Rodgers’ Swansea City became the first Welsh team to play in the Premier League when they paid a visit to Manchester City at Etihad in the 2011-12 season opener. Swansea did play in England’s top flight league between 1981 to 1983, but no club, outside England, had reached the Premier League since its formation in 1992.

Having finished third in the Championship prior to the 2011-12 season, Swansea defeated Nottingham Forest in the semi-final of the Championship playoffs, before getting the better of Reading by four goals to two in the final at Wembley, with Scott Sinclair scoring a hattrick. Ahead of their first Premier League campaign, Swansea signed striker Danny Graham from Watford for the club’s then record fee £3.5 million.

Their opening game was a complete disaster as they were scheduled to play one of the title challengers, Manchester City. They somehow managed to keep the scoreline intact at 0-0 until half-time, but soon after the restart, Cityzens showed their domination, with goals from Edin Džeko, Sergio Agüero and David Silva handing City a 4-0 win.

Widely regarded one of the finest all-rounders in world cricket, Sir Garfield Sobers celebrates was born on July 28, 1936. Through his extraordinary all-round abilities, Sobers has left such an indelible mark in the game that his name shall always be taken whenever we speak of great all-rounders in the game.

There are several reasons why the man who once hit six sixes in an over in a county game, Sir Garfield St Aubrun Sobers, is considered as the greatest ever all-rounder. Here is looking at a few of them.

An all-rounder par excellence:

In 93 Tests, Sobers scored 8,032 runs with 26 hundreds and 30 fifties at an extraordinary average of 57.78 – only six batsmen with more than 3,000 runs have had a better average in history. As outstanding a batsman as Sobers was, he was also a superb bowler and had 235 wickets in his career with 6 five-wicket hauls and 8 four-wicket hauls. Sobers was a genuine match-winning all-rounder and produced some magnificent all-round efforts through his career that left his mark in world cricket forever.

On this day in 2009, Barcelona and Inter Milan agreed one of the greatest swap deals in footballing history which saw the Swedish sensation Zlatan Ibrahimovic move to Barcelona, while Samuel Eto’o travelled to Italy, joining Inter Milan. Barcelona also offered Alexander Hleb for a season-long loan, but the German international rather decided to make a move back to his former club VfB Stuttgart.

Zlatan underwent his medical on this date in 2009 and completed his €46 million move to Camp Nou. His total fee was touted to be around €66 million as Eto’o was valued at €20 million. The Swede reported cost the Catalan a total of €69.8 million (including other fees), making him the then third most expensive footballer in history, behind Zindine Zidane (€76 million in 2001) and Cristiano Ronaldo (€94 million in 2009).

Brazil beat their fierce rivals Argentina on penalties on 25th July, 2004 to win the 41st edition of the Copa America at the Estadio Nacional in Lima, Peru. The match was tied 2-2 at full-time and even extra-time could not yield a goal. The match went to penalties, with Brazil eventually triumphing 4-2 in the shootout. This sealed Brazil’s seventh title in the premier South American continental championship.

Uruguay won a record 15th Copa America title on July 24th 2011, beating Paraguay 3-0 in the final to win the 2011 Copa America title at the Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires in Argentina. Prior to the victory in 2011, Uruguay had last won the title in 1995, tying them with Argentina on 14 Copa America victories. This victory meant that they crossed their South American rivals with 15 titles in the premier South American continental championship.

Uruguay were easily the best team in the tournament with Luis Suarez and Diego Forlan in top form. The same could not be said about Paraguay though, as they had a controversial run to the final. Surprisingly, they did not win a single match in their run to the final. They drew all their games in the group stages against Ecuador, Brazil and Venezuela. They made into the knockout stages on the basis of being one of the best third placed teams in the tournament. They again drew in their knockout matches against Brazil and Venezuela but triumphed on penalty shoot-out victories to reach the finals. Their defensive tactics led many fans to label them the most undeserving team to have made the finals of a major tournament.

One of England’s finest batsman to have graced the game, Graham Gooch was born on this day in 1953. With a total of 8900 runs in 118 Tests and 4290 runs in 125 ODIs, Gooch is among the many batting legends the game of cricket has seen.

On this day in 2017, former AS Roma captain and legend Francesco Totti announced his retirement from international football, after earning 58 caps for the Italian national team.

Progressing through the ranks, Totti – while plying his trade with the U-16 Italian national team – reached the UEFA European Under-16 Championship in 1993. Just three years later, Totti helped young Azzurrinis to the UEFA Under-21 Championship triumph. He had to wait to four more years to earn his senior cap. With the Italians going into EURO 2000, Totti’s brilliant form came handy. In the semi-final round, against Netherlands, Totti calmly chipped in a fine penalty which was later branded as one of the “magic moments” of the tournament.

On 18th July, 2012, Paris St Germain unveiled what would turn out to be one of their best signings ever, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, just under the iconic Eiffel Tower in Paris. Ibrahimovic back then was already 30 years old and many fans doubted whether his best years were already behind him and whether he would turn out to be an effective signing. It was the seventh club of Zlatan’s career and Paris St. Germain had decided to pay AC Milan £15.7m for his services. They decided to pay him a salary of €12.5m and signed him on a three-year old contract.

Ibrahimovic would go on to have a stellar career at Paris with many believing that he is the greatest player to play for the club. He would make 180 appearances for the club and score 156 goals in the period. He won every domestic trophy with Paris, with the only blot on his Paris career being unable to win the UEFA Champions League. He would finally leave the club in 2016 on a free transfer, finally arriving in England to play for Manchester United.

On June 17, 2016, Pakistan stunned the cricketing world with their remarkable turn around at the iconic Lord’s, beating England by 75 runs in the first Test of the series. It was the same venue where Pakistan were supressed by the spot-fixing revealations six years back. The then Pakistan captain Salman Butt, pacer Mohammad Asif and teenage sensation Mohammad Amir were found guilty of the accusation of spot-fixing.

And after 6 years, at the same ground, Amir, who faced 5-year ban from cricket for bowling two deliberate no-balls, also made a heroic comeback to Test cricket. However, many criticised his comeback and one of the big names were Kevin Pietersen, Graeme Swann, etc. Apart from Michael Atherton, barely any big name came in support of Amir. Despite that, the stadium was jam packed till the end of Test. Many expected the crowd boo for Amir but nothing such happened and infact, spectators welcomed him on his comeback.

Born on July 16, 1973, one of South Africa’s finest all-rounders Shaun Pollock was born in Port Elizabeth. He came up during an era when arguably one of the best all-rounders ever Jacques Kallis was taking giant strides in international cricket. However, Pollock too produced some brilliant performances and produced many match-winning spells and innings for sides. On his birthday, let’s take a look at some interesting points about Pollock.

Family of cricketers: Pollock comes from a family of cricketers. However, only his father Peter and uncle Graeme went on to play Test cricket for South Africa. However, his grandfather, great uncle Robert Howden and cousins Andrew Pollock and Anthony Pollock too played First-Class cricket. He made his Test debut when his father was the convener of selectors for South Africa.

Born July 15, 1984, Nawroz Khan Mangal was the first captain of Afghanistan and one of the most inspiration figure of the nation. Mangal is quite unlike hard-hitter Afghanistani batters and infact have good technique which provided solidity in the middle order. On the birthday of one of Afghasnitan’s hero, here are some interesting facts which covers his life story.

Childhood in refugee camps

Nawroz was born in Kabul and because of civil war, he fled from Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and spent early years in refuge camps of neighboring country Pakistan with his family. Nawroz returned to Afghanistan US Army put an end to Taliban rule in 2001.

July 13, 2002 – A day no Indian cricket fan will never forget. It gave India two new superstars. It gave the team belief that no target in too big. After that, India would go on to chase may huge targets. But it all has to start somewhere. Was this that match?

The tournament: India had a brilliant run in the Natwest Series 2002. They chased down 272 in their first match against England and then beat Sri Lanka by 4 wickets in the next match. However, bad weather ruined their charge in the next game, but they bounced back well with yet another 4-wicket win in the game after that. They suffered a minor setback when they lost to England in a rain-curtailed match, but in the match before the final, they beat Sri Lanka comprehensively. England on the other hand did not have it all smooth. They lost a couple of games, but had done enough to make it to the final. Sri Lanka had to head home after a solitary win in the series – coming against England.

Born on July 13, 1984, Francois du Plessis is South Africa’s Test captain. An elegant right-handed batsman and best friend of AB de Villiers is considered to be one of the finesh cricketer from the nation. On his birthday, let’s take a look at some interesting facts about him.

Rugby and cricket

While studying in primary school, du Plessis played rugby at the time when shoulder pads were not introduced. He loved kicking and running with the ball but not the massive fan of tackling but his dad often forced him as he was proffessional rugby player and had represented Northern Transvaal in the 80s. Because of his father, du Plessis often felt that he wanted him to be rugby player than a cricketer. But since he find better in cricket and at the age of 16, du Plessis took the decision of preferring cricket over rugby. He also broke his wrist while playing rugby and missed two months of cricket, which he thinks is the major reason to not play rugby.

Bill Shankly, regarded as the greatest manager in the history of Liverpool Football Club and one of the greatest managers in the history of the game stepped down as manager of his beloved club on 12th July, 1974. The reason for him stepping down was that years of football had taken a toll on him and he had grown tired of the game.

After winning the 1974 FA Cup final which Liverpool won, Shankly decided that it was time to step down. He wrote in his autobiography that he, “felt tired from all the years.” Shankly’s granddaughter confirmed the notion in 2009 writing for The Observer, stating that, “I think that perhaps it was tiredness, that football had taken its toll on him.”

Spain washed away years of under-achievement to cap off their golden generation, when they beat Netherlands 1-0 to win the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. The match was not a pretty affair by many means with the Dutch team resorting to foul and aggressive tactics to disrupt the flow of the technically superior Spanish unit. Andres Iniesta finally broke the deadlock in the 116th minute in extra-time to send the Spanish fans into delirium.

Spain started the final as heavy favourites with world class talent in their ranks in the form of Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Xabi Alonso, Sergio Ramos, Iker Casillas, Gerard Pique, Carles Puyol, Sergio Busquets and David Villa in their line-up. The Dutch knew that they could not beat the Spanish Armada playing the pure brand of football which was associated with them over the years. So they resorted to a physical style of play which for most of the contest, worked like a charm. Overall, 13 yellow cards and 1 red card was brandished during the course of the match.

One of the finest batsman to have graced the game of cricket, Sunil Gavaskar was born in Bombay, Indian on 10th July 1949. He had a rock solid technique and never-ending powers of concentration making him one of the greatest openers to have ever played Test cricket. He is still regarded in many circles, the greatest cricketer which India has ever produced in its rich history of producing some of the finest players in world cricket.

Gavaskar became synonymous with facing up against the fearsome West Indies bowling attack without a helmet on uncovered pitches. He also had a historical love affair with the Caribbean, where he played 13 Tests and scored 7 centuries at an average of over 70. It is still an awe-inspiring statistic, considering the world class team which West Indies possessed then, which is widely regarded as the greatest team in Test cricket’s history.

You may not have heard of Vikram Solanki. You may not even know if he played for India, England or some other nation. I don’t blame you. With 1,097 runs in 51 One-Day International (ODI) matches for England at a modest average of 26.75, he is just another ordinary player to have played for England. But Solanki created history on 7th July, 2005 when he walked out to the field as the first ever super substitute in international cricket.

What is a super sub?

Between 2005-2006, the International Cricket Council (ICC), came up with a unique concept where one player can replace another player at any point of an One-Day International (ODI) match. A batsman can replace a bowler, a bowler can replace a batsman or a batsman or a bowler could even replace a wicketkeeper. A substitute fielder can only field and cannot bat or bowl, however, a suoer substitute can bat, bowl and field in place of the player he has replaced.

It was soon abolished as it was believed that the team winning the toss had the advantage. Barring Pakistan, who won two out of two, Australia have dominated, winning 9 out of the 10 matches with super sub rule in place. However, ICC decided to withdraw this rule after 60 matches.

Widely regarded as an all-time classic and the greatest match in the history of tennis, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal contested in the final of Wimbledon in 2008. Rafael Nadal eventually won the match in five sets, the winner of the contest hardly mattered as it was the game of tennis which had triumphed. The match also added to the legend of the storied rivalry between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer which is believed to be the greatest rivalry in the history of the sport. Rafael Nadal won the match with a score of 6–4, 6–4, 6–7(5–7), 6–7(8–10), 9–7.

The match had various rain interruptions which added to the spectacle of the contest. By the time the match was over and the presentations were due, the ceremony was being conducted under flashlights from various spectators in the Centre Court! The match ended at 21:15 BST.

Born on July 6, 1977, Makhaya Ntini is regarded as one of the finest bowlers to have ever played for South Africa. He reached quite a few highs but was also had many lows in 24-year career, which included 11 years of international cricket. On his 40th birthday, let us have a look at some interesting facts about the former South African fast bowler

First black to represent South Africa: South Africa have a troubled history when it comes to their black population. However, there are certain individuals like Ntini, who broke those barriers and represented their nation at the highest level. Ntini made his One-Day International debut in January 1998 against New Zealand and then a test debut followed a couple of months later against Sri Lanka. South Africa won on both occasions, with Ntini putting up a good display.

One of the finest players which Indian cricket has ever produced, Harbhajan Singh was born on 3rd July, 1980 in Jalandhar Punjab. For a period, he was even regarded as the most dangerous spinner in the game due to his ability to extract vicious bounce from dead surfaces and was nicknamed the ‘Turbanator’ due to his ability to do so. He is one of the highest wicket-takers in the history of international cricket.

Harbhajan has represented India in 103 Test matches picking up 417 wickets. He has also proven to be a very capable batsman later on in his career scoring two centuries and scoring 2224 runs. He has also represented India in 236 ODIs in which he has picked up 269 wickets. He also played a crucial role in India winning the 2007 T20 World Cup and has played 28 matches picking up 25 wickets. The greatest moment in his career was the historic Test match against Australia in Kolkata in 2001 where he tormented the Aussie batsmen and was one of the main protagonists in India’s triumph.

On this day in 2008, Brazil’s one of the most promising right-back, Dani Alves joined Barcelona for fee reported to be around £23 million, with about £7 million add-ons. His move from the fellow La Liga side Sevilla made the Brazilian full-back the then third-most expensive player for Barça. Furthermore, his four-year contract with the Catalan club had a whopping €90 million buy-back clause.

Only two years back, in 2006, Sevilla agreed a let Alves leave for Liverpool, but the transfer failed as the Merseyside club failed to match the £8m valuation of Sevilla. He eventually signed a new contract with the club, keeping him with the Sevillistas Los Rojiblancos until 2012. However, just a year later, the Brazilian expressed his desire by publically announcing that he wants to leave Sevilla for a bigger club. He later confirmed that his agent has been in England, negotiating a possible deal. Chelsea, reportedly, were an interesting party, but the Spanish outfit firmly rejected the Blues’ offer claiming that their offer was “way below what was expected.” Chelsea eventually settled for Juliano Belletti.

Just a year later, he moved Barcelona and the transfer worked wonders for the Brazilian. In his debut season with the Catalan club, he reached the Champions League final. Although he missed the final due to a suspension, Barcelona managed to defeat Manchester United 2-0 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. Alves helped the Pep Guardiola-led Barcelona lift a treble in his very first season, winning the La Liga title, Copa Del Rey and the UEFA Champions League.

One of the greatest strikers which the Netherlands football team has produced, Patrick Kluivert was born on 1st July 1976. He his notably known for carving out a legendary career at two of the biggest clubs in Europe, Ajax and FC Barcelona. He is also one of the greatest strikers to have ever donned the jersey for the Dutch national team. Despite his obvious talents, Kluivert was criticized throughout his career for his attitude problems.

He was given his break by Louis Van Gaal as a part of Ajax’s Golden generation of the 90’s. He was the most talented member of the squad which would involve other legendary players in Clarence Seedorf, Edgar Davids and Edwin Van der Sar. In 1995, he would come off the bench and score the winner in the UEFA Champions League final against AC Milan. His performances at Ajax would earn him a free transfer to AC Milan where he would stay for only one disappointing season before moving to Barcelona where he would have the best years of his career.

On this day in 2002, Brazil won a record fifth World Cup, beating the Oliver Kahn-led Germany by two goals to nil in front of 69,029 spectators at the International Stadium in Yokohama, Japan. This was the first time these two giants were meeting in a World Cup encounter.

Courtesy of a brace from star man Ronaldo, Brazil didn’t sweat much in beating all-confident German battalion. Brazil, who were led by Cafu, had a perfect start to the tournament, as they won all three of their group stage games, getting the better of the likes of Turkey, Costa Rica and China. Germany, on the other hand, had a tough road to the final as they won two of their three group stage games while drawing one.

On this day in 2008, Spain – a team full of confidence – won their first Euro Cup since 1964 by beating Joachim Löw’s Germany at the Ernst-Happel-Stadion in Vienna, Austria, in front of 51,000 spectators by one goal to nil.

Spain, who were drafted in group D, won all three of their group stage games, beating the likes of Russia, Sweden and Greece. While Germany, on the other hand, finished second in their group behind leaders Croatia – winning two of their three group stage games. Advancing to the quarterfinals, Spain were scheduled to face a phlegmatic Italian side which they won 4-0 on penalties. Germany locked horns against Portugal and emerged victorious, courtesy to the goals from Schweinsteiger, Klose and skipper Michael Ballack.

Spain then faced Russia and didn’t sweat much in defeating the then men in red. While it was a walk in the park for Spain, Germany had to break the sweat and needed an injury time goal from Philipp Lahm to beat Turkey 3-2.

Spain, who failed to qualify beyond the quarter-finals of any tournament in 24 years, came into the final without the tournament’s top-scorer David Villa due to a thigh injury. Germany, on the other hand, received a massive boost as their skipper – Michael Ballack – was given the green light to play the fixture. Spain started off brightly and tested Germany’s stopper Jens Lehmann early in the game. Righ-back Sergio Ramos delivered an inviting ball into the box and Fernando Torres rose high to connect a header, only to be denied by the frame of the post.

The deadlock was broken soon after the half-hour mark when Xavi played a delicious through ball in between Germany’s defenders and Fernando Torres matched it with a fine finish. Spain were continuously testing Germany’s patience, while at the same time, were defending brilliantly. The likes of David Silva and Sergio Ramos came close to scoring but firmly lacked the finished required.

Following Real Madrid’s Champions League triumph in the 2013-14 season – their first Champions League crown since 2002 – star man Cristiano Ronaldo was named as the UEFA Best Player in Europe on this day in 2014. The Portuguese starlet surpassed the likes of Manuel Neuer, Arjen Robben, Thomas Muller and Philipp Lahm to win the award.

A panel of 54 journalists was given the task to select the candidate, through an electronic system, and the Real Madrid starlet won all ends up, receiving 27 votes – 9 more than the second placed Manuel Neuer. Speaking after receiving the award from the French veteran Michel Platini, Ronaldo said:

“I’m really happy so I must say thanks to my team-mates because without the team, individual awards would not be possible. I don’t have this trophy in my museum, so my brother is going to put it there.”

Since the beginning of the award, Ronaldo became the third player to receive the honour, following the likes of Lionel Messi (2010/11), Andres Iniesta (2011/12) and Frank Ribery (2012/13). Ronaldo broke the then-record for goals, scoring 17, which was most by a player in a UEFA Champions League campaign and helped Real to lift their tenth Champions League crown.

On this day, in 1980, one of modern cricket masters Kevin Pietersen was born. When he arrived in international cricket, he slammed three centuries in the second ODI series of his career and fittingly against and in South Africa, his birthplace.

A world class batsman in his hey days, Pietersen made a mockery of the bowlers with his unconventional style of batting. His class was so high despite not adhering completely to ‘Textbook’ cricket that even 8181 runs in Tests, 4440 runs in ODIs and 1176 runs in T20Is seem an understatement of his talent.

He played a crucial role in his first Ashes in 2005 where he stood firm in the last innings of the Test to save the match for England, which they won 2-1. His success as a batsman gave England a big boost in the middle order across the formats.

On this day in 1968, one of the best defenders to have ever graced a footballing field, Paolo Maldini was born.

Considered as a pure no-nonsense defender, Paolo started his playing career with AC Milan and went on to play for the same club for the entirety of his career. Capable of playing anywhere across the defensive line, Maldini began his career as a right back, but with Milan already having Mauro Tassotti on that spot, manager Arrigo Sacchi deployed Maldini on left. Although he was a right-footed player, his tactical genius and ability of playing with both feet with equal effect allowed him to play anywhere on the defensive line.

Maldini was first given the reins of Milan in 1997 when both Franco Baresi’s and Mauro Tassotti’s retired. Although the club initially struggled under his leadership, they managed to reach the Coppa Italia final in 1998, but lost out the title to Lazio. For the Italian national team, Maldini made his debut as a 19-year-old in 1988. Plying his trade for the Gli Azzurri for a whopping 14 years, Maldini earned 126 caps, a record at that time. He also captain Italy for eight years and played 74 times as a captain, again a then-record. It was eventually surpassed by Fabio Cannavaro, in 2010.

On this day in 2006, one of the fiercest encounters in the history of football was played. In the round of 16 of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Portugal were scheduled to lock horns against Netherlands and in the game referee Valentin Ivanov issued four red cards and sixteen yellows, which till date is a FIFA-record of most number of cards in a match.

Portugal were in some form in the tournament as they won all three of their group matches, while Netherlands, on the other hand, won their opening two games before drawing their third fixture with Argentina. Netherlands have always been a tactical team and strategic game was duly expected from the two team. However, it soon turned out to be a complete physical battle. It all started within the first eight minutes of the game as Mark van Bommel and Khalid Boulahrouz of Netherlands booked their names in referee’s book.

The next player to be booked was Portugal midfielder Maniche, but he soon made it all up by giving his side a lead just three minutes after receiving the caution. Compatriot Costinha fouled Philip Cocu minutes after the goal and received his marching orders, became the first player of the game to be sent off, in the first minute of first-half’s extra-time.

Sourav Ganguly etched his name in the Indian cricket history books with a glorious career, becoming one of India’s finest players and captain. His legendary career started at the most famous cricket ground in the world, the home of cricket, Lords. On 22nd June, Ganguly became only the third player in history to score a century on his debut at Lords after Harry Graham and John Hampshire. Andrew Strauss and Matt Prior have since accomplished such a feat.

His century came in the second Test match of the three-match Test series with England leading the series 1-0 after a victory in the first Test match at Edgbaston in Birmingham. Ganguly scored 131 batting at No.3 for India in testing conditions but his efforts was not enough to lead India to a victory. The match was also notable for the debut of another Indian legend and one of the finest Test batsman of all time, Rahul Dravid. Rahul Dravid too played brilliantly in his innings but narrowly missed out on a debut century, scoring 95 runs. This was a preview for India for what was to come in Indian cricket with Ganguly and Dravid along with Sachin Tendulkar who by then was already India’s finest batsman and VVS Laxman forming the greatest batting line-up in Indian cricket history and one of the greatest in the history of cricket.

Steffi Graf, one of the greatest players to have ever graced the game of tennis was born on 14th June, 1969 in Mannheim, West Germany. She has won 22 singles Grand Slams, which places her third on the all-time list of singles Grand Slam titles won. She is only behind Serena Williams who has won 23 titles and Margaret Court, who won 24 titles.

The German has a wide array of records to her name, She has won all the Grand Slams she has contested in, making her one of the select few players to have completed the Career Slam. 1988, in particular, was arguably the greatest ever year by a singles player in the history of tennis as Steffi Graf achieved the unthinkable; winning the Golden Slam. Such was her dominance in 88 that she won all the four Grand Slams as well as the Olympic Gold medal. She is the only player in history to have won each and every Grand Slam, at least four times. She won Wimbledon 7 times, the French Open 6 times, the US open 5 times and the Australian Open 4 times in her career.

Chris Cairns, one of the finest all-rounders of world cricket in the 90’s and 2000’s was born in Picton, Marlborough, New Zealand on 13th June 1970. For much of his career, he was the undisputed star of a New Zealand team which did not have many superstars. He was also viewed as somewhat of a successor to the great Richard Hadlee back in his home country New Zealand. He was a destructive hitter of the cricket ball lower down the order while also being the strike bowler for his team, picking up wickets in the crucial moments of the game. He was also an athletically gifted fielder, capable of some moments of brilliance on the field. Later in his career though, a string of unfortunate injuries largely nullified his abilities with the ball and on the field.

On this day, in 1957, Pakistan’s run-machine Javed Miandad was born. One of the highest achievements of his career was his Test average that never fell below 50. This is a special achievement considering the fact that only two batsmen in the world have been able to not go down below the Test average of 50. One was Miandad and the other being England’s Herbert Sutcliffe.

Not many batsmen hit a century in their first Test innings. Miandad was an exception. He scored a defiant 163 against New Zealand playing in Lahore in 1976-77. In the same series, he hit a beautiful double hundred and it fittingly came in home town Karachi. This was not the only one, however, in his career. He scored five more double-hundred and all of them class apart.

On this day in 2009, a long-awaited transfer speculation reached its conclusion as Manchester United finally accepted Real Madrid’s £80 million (€94 million) offer for the then 24-year-old sensation, Cristiano Ronaldo.

Cristiano Ronaldo, who won the grandest individual prize in Ballon d’Or in 2008, was a constant target for Real Madrid for a long time, however, Manchester United were reluctant to let him go. Madrid’s pursuit of the winger was so intense that Manchester United officially launched a complaint against the Galacticos in June 2008, accusing the Spanish outfit of the alleged pursuit of their player. This led to a new term being formed “modern slavery” as the then FIFA president Sepp Blatter stated that a player should be allowed to leave his club.

Eventually in 2009, after winning three consecutive Premier League crown and a UEFA Champions League medal, Ronaldo made his move to Real Madrid. Ronaldo’s to Real coincided with the return of Florentino Pérez – under whom the first wave of the ‘Galactico’ arrived at Santiago Bernabeu – as club president. In the same year, Real Madrid signed Kaka from AC Milan for £56m. And with Ronaldo arriving at a whopping price of £80 million, he became the then most expensive player in the history of the sport.

Ronaldo was presented in front of the fans a month later and the Portuguese shattered yet another record. Near to 80,000 spectators turned up to see him live and in the process, he broke a long 25-year record of 75,000 fans who welcomed Diego Maradona at Napoli back in 1984.

6th of June is not only known for the famous D-Day landings, as on the 50th anniversary of the same (1994), the then 25-year-old Brian Lara defied all the odds by bragging a massive 501* while plying his trade with Warwickshire County Cricket Club against Durham at Edgbaston. And to add further to it, Warwickshire completed their treble by winning the County Championship, Sunday League and Benson & Hedges Cup later in the same season.

The Trinidad and Tobago-born veteran, in the process, surpassed the milestone of 499 runs set by Hanif Mohammad back in January 1959. His 500 runs benchmark came just two months after he scored a whopping 375 runs in 538 balls in a Test series against England – The Wisden Trophy.

The Windies international, however, could have failed to reach the summit had it not been a no ball from Anderson Cummins and the misfielding of Chris Scott. Cummins got the better of Lara while he was stuck at just 12 runs, but was called not-out due to a no ball. Furthermore, while standing onto the crease with 18 runs at his disposal, wicketkeeper Chris Scott dropped off his catch, allowing them to regret their faults after the game. After the drop Scott supposedly muttered: “Oh dear, he’ll probably go on and get a hundred.”

On June 5th, 2009, Netherlands, the most unfancied of minnows caused one of the biggest upsets in the history of cricket by beating hosts England in the 2009 T20 World Cup at the hallowed turf of the Lord’s stadium in London, England. It was the biggest victory in the short history of the Netherlands cricket team and one of the gloomiest days in the history of their European counterparts.

Batting first, England put a competitive score of 162 on the board which would surely have been enough to defend against an associate nation like Netherlands. But the Dutch, with their dogged determination, hung on till the dying embers of the game with their icon Ryan ten Doeschate finding himself on the crease after 14 overs with Netherlands still needing 47 runs to win.

Hansie Cronje was highly revered for his cricketing acumen, tactical nous and leadership qualities all over the globe until it all came crashing down when he admitted to taking money from bookies to influence the result of matches in 2000. 26 months after admitting to his crime, Cronje died in a plane crash near George, a town in South Africa’s Western Cape on June 1, 2002.

Cronje was widely hailed for his brilliant tactics as a captain, but all the goodwill which he had built was lost after the match-fixing saga to which he admitted to. He made further mockery of himself by claiming that he was possessed by satanic forces when he was taking money from bookmakers. But he had slowly started to gain some of his reputation back, at least in his home country of South Africa when he met his faith in an unfortunate plane accident. During his death, he was working as a financial manager for a Johannesburg-based firm.

Those who have seen him bat have no doubt that Sir Vivian Richards was the greatest as well as the most destructive batsman which the game of cricket has ever seen. On 31st May in 1984, Old Trafford in Manchester witnessed what most believe is the greatest ODI knock of all-time. His innings of 189 against England came in just 170 deliveries, a staggering achievement in that era of the game where the pitches offered great assistance to the seamers.

One of Australia’s finest servants of the game, Michael Hussey was born today. Even though he arrived at the international scene pretty late, he has left a pretty lasting impression on the game of cricket. Before making his debut at the age of 30 in Tests, Michael Edward Kileen Hussey had already accumulated 15,313 first-class runs in the domestic circuit.

Michael Hussey is a tenacious puller of the ball, just like most Australians who are born in Perth, playing in bouncy conditions but what strikes most about Mike Hussey is the never-ending bundle of energy. Whether it be on the field or while driving the ball, Huss almost has an extra spring in his step when going about his things. In just his 166 days of Test cricket, Michael Hussey became the fastest player to notch up 1000 Test runs. But just like his career, he paid no heed to another record of his.

In the second edition of the IPL, Deccan Chargers triumphed over Royal Challengers Bangalore in Johannesburg, South Africa on 24th May 2009. The Adam Gilchrist led Deccan Chargers were the best team for the entire duration of the tournament, finishing on top in the group stages and beat Delhi Daredevils in the semi-finals. Royal Challengers Bangalore had finished third in the group stage and had beat Chennai Super Kings to reach the finals.

In the final, Anil Kumble won the toss for Royal Challengers Bangalore and opted to field first. Deccan Chargers scored 143 in 20 overs, with South African Herschelle Gibbs top scoring for them with 53 runs. Captain Anil Kumble was exceptional for Royal Challengers Bangalore with the ball picking up 4 wickets in 4 overs, conceding only 16 runs. Despite his best efforts, Royal Challengers Bangalore failed to chase the score down only managing a total of 129/9. They needed 15 runs in the last over of RP Singh but could only score 8 runs.

Sarfraz Ahmed was born on this day in 1987. Ahmed is an aggressive player by nature and likes to take on the opponent.

He was there in Pakistan’s U19 squad in 2006 which won the tournament. It was a tough time to get into the national side as Akmal brothers had made the wicket-keeping position their own. However, Ahmed kept on performing with both gloves and bat to ensure that he was always there when the selectors thought of an able replacement.

Sarfraz Ahmed made his debut for Pakistan in ODIs in Jaipur against India in 2007. He had to wait for three more years to make his Test debut against Australia in Hobart. In the same year, Ahmed also made his T20I debut.

On this day in 1997, Saeed Anwar blasted 194 against India in the Independence Cup match in Chennai. Brutality was at its peak when Anwar went on a rampage. The fact that none of his teammates could manage more than 39 runs is the testimony to the brilliance of the innings.

Pakistan posted 327 runs for the loss of 5 wickets in 50 overs and it looked like to be an impossible total to chase for the Indian team. Not many know that India’s Rahul Dravid too played brilliant innings of 107 runs and this innings was pretty contrasting to the usual Dravid one. He scored at an average above 90 as the need if the hour was to boost the run-rate.

The day, however, is remembered for the stylish left-hander Anwar. He amassed 8834 runs in 247 ODIs he played for Pakistan before bidding bye to the game in 2003 after Pakistan’s World Cup journey ended.

On this day in 1979, one of the best players to have ever graced a footballing field Diego Forlan was born.

Born into a footballing family, with his father, Pablo Forlan, being an Uruguayan international, young Diego wanted to be a tennis star, hence, started playing the sport in his early career. However, with a footballing gene running through his veins, Diego eventually opted to start his career as a footballer.

He was first called up to France on a trial to AS Nancy, however, the French club decided not to offer him a contract and Forlan came back to his country. Forlan started off his professional career with the Argentine club Independiente and impressed every other with his wonderful goal scoring knocks.

His form eventually attracted the interest of several European clubs and eventually in January 2002, Independiente agreed a reported bid of £6.9 million from Middlesbrough. The Riverside club agreed to pay the fee in an 18-month instalment, but Manchester United’s last minuted intervention and their capability of paying the same fee in a single payment left Middlesbrough red-faced and Forlan eventually moved to Manchester United.

AC Milan thrashed Barcelona 4-0 on 18th May, 1994 to clinch their fifth European title at the Olympic stadium in Athens, Greece. Heading into the game, Barcelona were heavy favourites to win their second UEFA Champions League trophy in three seasons. But AC Milan displayed typical Italian grit and determination to upset the odds and shock Barcelona in the final.

AC Milan were missing key players such as legendary striker Marco Van Basten, record signing Gianluigi Lentini, captain Franco Baresi and his central defensive partner Alessandro Costacurta with injuries. But once the whistle blew, Milan dominated from start to the end taking a comfortable 2-0 first half lead due to a brace by Daniele Massaro. In the second half, goals by Dejan Savicevic and defender Marcel Dessaily further compounded Barcelona’s misery.

Andres Iniesta, one of the greatest midfielders to have graced the game of football was born on May 11, 1984 in Fuentealbilla, Spain. The current Barcelona captain has won virtually every trophy there is to win in the game of football at the club and international level and has been a vital component in the massively successful Barcelona and Spain team over the last decade.

Dennis Bergkamp, one of the most elegant players to have graced the game of football, was born on 10th May, 1969 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. He started his career as a striker, but it was at Arsenal, where manager Arsene Wenger utilized him in a more withdrawn role as a shadow striker behind Thierry Henry where the world realized his true genius. Along with Henry, Bergkamp formed one of the most fearsome strike partnership in the history of club football.

Bergkamp started his career at Ajax, coming through the ranks in their famed academy. It is apt that he was handed his first team debut by Johan Cruyff at Ajax, the player around who Bergkamp built his game on. He would go on to play 239 games for Ajax, establishing himself as a prolific striker scoring 122 goals in this period. His performances for Ajax earned him a move to European giants Inter in 1993, where he failed to settle in and would leave in 1995 after two subdued seasons. When he joined Arsenal, he was largely a forgotten man but Wenger’s appointment in 1996 completely changed his career around.

The Accra Sports Stadium disaster took place on May 9, 2001, at the Ohene Djan stadium in Accra, Ghana in a football match between two of Ghana’s biggest clubs, Accra Hearts of Oak Sporting Club and Asante Kotoko. The disaster, unfortunately, claimed the lives of 127 fans, making it the worst football disaster in history.

The incident took place after the home team scored two late goals to snatch a late 2-1 victory over Asante Kotoko. This agitated the away fans who expressed their anger by throwing chairs, plastic seats and plastic bottles in the stadium. This led to a major crowd disturbance. It was anticipated that there would be crowd trouble in the match but adequate preparations were not made for it. The police responded to the crowd trouble by throwing tear gas towards the crowd. This resulted in panic among the people, which resulted in a stampede leading to the deaths of 127 people and several serious injuries.

On this day in 1959, unarguably India’s greatest all-rounder, Kapil Dev was born. Kapil played 131 Tests for India and picked 434 wickets, scoring 5248 runs. His one day record was also impressive. In 225 ODIs he had played, he scored 3783 runs and p

One of the greatest strikers produced by Germany and a successful football manager in recent times, Jurgen Klinsmann was born on 30th July, 1964 in Goppingen, West Germany. He is one of the the few players to have scored in all the major tournaments he participated in for Germany from the Euros in 1988 to the FIFA World Cup in 1998. He was a vital member of the West Germany team which won the FIFA World Cup in 1990 and the unified Germany team which won the Euros in 1996.

At the club level, Klinsmann played for some of the biggest clubs in the world in the form of Bayern Munich, Inter Milan, AS Monaco, Tottenham Hotspur and Sampdoria. He is considered to be one of the greatest players to have ever played for Tottenham and is worshipped in North London for his contributions for the club despite having only two one year spells at the club. Overall, he scored 277 goals in his club career in 614 appearances.

On this day, in 1998, two men with equally great abilities decide to have a Tussle At Trent Bridge that will go down in history as one of the finest battles witnessed in the Test arena. England needed to save a Test and in their ranks, found a fearless warrior in the name of Mike Atherton. South Africa needed a win and sent in their Achilles aka Allan Donald.

The battle intensified once Mike Atherton was given not out after a caught behind off Mark Boucher. It enraged Allan Donald to a level that he started coming from around the wicket and threw some fiery bouncers, aiming at Atherton’s head. What transpired was one heck of a battle that saw Atherton barely managing to keep away a fearsome Donald, who during his prime was as quick a fast bowler as it gets.

On July 22, 2010, Muttiah Muralitharan represented Sri Lanka for the last time in white jersey in the longest and oldest format of the game. The Sri Lankan legend, who made his debut back in 1992 had an interesting yet fairytale ending to his Test career. When he announced his retirement from Tests cricket, just before the first Test of his final series, which was played against India at Galle International Cricket Stadium, he had 792 wickets. It almost seemed that Muralitharan might not touch the 800-wicket mark in Test but he somehow did it and in style.

With 8 wickets away from the milestone mark, Muralitharan scalped his 67th five-wicket haul in Tests in India’s first innings and inched to 797. He began his final Test too in style by getting the wicket of legendary Sachin Tendulkar as his first of that match.

Born on July 21, 1990, Jason Roy is one of the bright and upcoming stars of England. He has achieved many things in his short career and with the way he is shaping up, he looks set to achieve much more success for himself and also for the teams he represents. Let us now take a look at some interesting facts about the birthday boy.

South Africa born: Like some of the greats of English cricket such as Andrew Strauss, Kevin Pietersen and many others, Roy too was born in South Africa. He moved from Johannesburg to England at the age of 10. he represented Surrey Under-11 right through to Surrey Under-19.

Academic brilliance: Roy was brilliant in academics and was in fat offered admission at St. Mary’s University in Belfast for sports science and business management. However, he refused that offer and decided to pursue his cricketing dreams.

Born on July 19, 1955 in Bangalore, Roger Michael Humphrey Binny played a huge part in India’s success in the mid 80s. He went on to play 27 Tests and 72 ODIs between 1979 to 1987. On his birthday, let us take a look at some interesting facts about the former India all-rounder

First Anglo-Indian to play for India: Roger Binny was handed his international debut in the first Test between India and Pakistan at Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore in 1979. When he made his bow, he became the first cricketer from the Anglo-Indian descent to represent India. 25 years later, his son Stuart too made is international debut for India.

First and last Test at home: Only a few lucky players have an opportunity to play for their nation, but Binny had the honour of playing his first and last Test at his home ground, M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore. He also scored his highest Test score of an unbeaten 83, against Pakistan, at this very ground in 1983.

July 11 is significant in cricket history for a couple of reasons – It was the first ever time a player played his 100th Test and was also the first time ever a player scored a century on this monumental occasion. This feat was achieved by none other than former England captain Colin Cowdrey. Cowdrey struck a magnificent 104 in England’s first innings in the third Test of The Ashes 1968 at Edgbaston. The match was drawn and the five-match series ended 1-1. Bangalore-born Cowdrey went on to lead England in 27 Tests. Overall, he represented England in 114 Tests, scoring 7,624 runs at 44.06, which included 22 hundreds and 38 half-centuries. With that, let us take a look at players, who have scored a century on their landmark 100th Test.

Javed Miandad: Miandad scored a majestic 145 against his favourite opponents India. This was just the second hundred in 100th Test and it was scored 31 years after the Cowdrey’s ton. However, Miandad was not the highest scorer in the innings. Shoaib Mohammad with his 203 not out, which helped Pakistan score 699 in reply to India’s 509 in their first innings. The series opener marked the international debut of one Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar.

Born on July 9, 1983, cricket was already Shaun Marsh’s blood. A graceful left-handed batsman and on his day could trouble any opposition, anywhere in the world. On his 34thbirthday, let us take a look at some interesting facts about the Australian.

Family of sportsmen: Marsh’s father Geoff represented Australia in 50 Tests and 117 One-Day Internationals (ODI) between 1985 to 1992. Geoff then took up a coaching role in 1996 with the Australian team. Australia won their second World Cup in 1999 under Geoff’s tutelage. Shaun’s younger brother Mitchell too has represented Australia in all formats. Their sister Melissa is a former Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) player.

On this day, in 1981, MS Dhoni was born. Mahi, as he is famously called, debuted for India in the year 2004 against Bangladesh at Chittagong. In his first international series, he scored 19 runs and failed to impress the billion people who were in hope of getting a swashbuckling wicketkeeper/batsman for years.

In his next ODI series against Pakistan at home, Dhoni realised his full potential when he smashed 148 in Vizag in 2005. MSD did not look back from there and started a journey which wrote history for the Indian cricket team. What followed was an unbeaten 183 against Sri Lanka in the subsequent series.

Dhoni, however, had confused people about abilities in world cricket in his early days. Everyone accepted him to come and start bashing the bowlers all over the park. After he was given the reins of captaincy in 2007 before the first World Cup T20, he changed his game completely and became synonymous to calmness and composure than his previous image of a belligerent hitter. He, indeed, had the capability to blast bowlers even after attaining calmness but his game had changed enormously. He had become the patience of Rahul Dravid and power of Virender Sehwag. At the same time, he made sure he was Dhoni when he stepped on the cricket field.

Arguably the greatest player to have turned out in a Chelsea blue, Gianfranco Zola was born on 5th July 1966 in Oliena, Italy. He was known for his effortless technique on the ball, his skills and vision and operated as a classic No.10, as an advanced playmaker and as a second striker. He represented major Italian clubs like Napoli, Parma and Cagliari but was most well-known for his sublime spell at English club Chelsea, before they were blessed by the fortunes of current owner Roman Abramovich.

He started his career at minnows Nuorese before moving to Torres. He then got his major breakthrough at Italian giants Napoli during their golden era which was led by Diego Maradona. he made 105 appearances for the club scoring 32 goals in the period. He then moved to Parma in 1993 and was at his peak as a player there with the side built around him. He made 102 appearances for the club scoring 49 goals.

On this day in 2007, Liverpool broke their transfer record by bringing in one of the best and natural finishers, Fernando Torres for a fee of around £20million.

Known for his boyish looks and flashy pace, Torres progressed through Atletico Madrid’s youth academy before making his debut for the Ros Lojiblancos in 2001. He then went on to spend seven seasons with the club, making near to 250 appearances and scoring 91 goals. Soon after the 2006 World Cup, Torres sensationally revealed that he rejected an offer to join Chelsea at the end of 2005-06 season.

Only a year later, Atletico Madrid agreed terms with Liverpool for Fernando Torres and the Spaniard moved to Merseyside for the club’s then world record fee. To fill the void, Atletico bought Uruguay’s Diego Forlan from Villarreal. Liverpool, on their official website, stated that the likes of Manchester United and Arsenal were vying to acquire his signature, but Torres’ desire to sign for the Reds was confirmed when a phrase ‘We’ll Never Walk Alone’ was spotted on the inside of his captain’s armband while playing for Atletico Madrid.

One of the greatest players to have ever laced his boots in the game of football, Lionel Andres Messi was born 24 June, 1987 in Rosario, Argentina. Since a very young age, he was regarded as a precocious talent and was always destined to achieve great things in the game. But the magnitude of his success has stunned one and all, with many believing that he is the greatest ever to have played the game, surpassing his idol Diego Maradona and Pele.

Messi started his career at the club which he supported, Newell’s Old Boys at the age of six. During his six-year tenure at the club, he scored over 500 goals at the youth level. At the age of 10 though, his future in the game was severely threatened when he was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency. His father’s insurance covered only two years of treatment and his club could not afford to treat him and reneged on their promise.

Kapil Dev is still regarded as one of the finest cricketers which India has ever produced as well as being one of the greatest all-rounders in the history of cricket. He was mainly potent for India as their strike bowler when they were sorely lacking a top class fast bowler. One facet of Kapil Dev’s game which was underrated though was his batting prowess. But on 18th June 1983, he arguably played the greatest ODI inning ever played by an Indian cricketer.

The 1983 World Cup is written in gold in Indian sports history due to the significance of the victory on Indian cricket. But India were on the verge of being knocked out of the tournament, being in a precarious position against the unfancied Zimbabwe in a match at Tunbridge Wells. India found themselves at a score of 9 for 4 and then 17 for 5 when Kapil Dev played the innings of his lifetime. He hit the Zimbabwe bowlers all over the park, hitting them for 175 in just 138 deliveries. He hit 16 fours and 6 sixes in the innings. The second highest scorer for India in the match was Syed Kirmani with 24 not out with India reaching a score of 266 for 8.

On this day in 1969, one of the best goalkeepers to have ever graced a footballing field, Oliver Kahn was born.

Considered as one of the best goalkeepers of his generation, the German shot-stopper, while in his playing career, was a synonym to success. Starting off his playing career with Karlsruher SC at the age of six, Kahn initially was an outfield player but later on became a shot-stopper. Making more than 120 appearances for Karlsruhe SC, Kahn signed for Bayern Munich for a reported fee of €2,385,000 – a record at the time for a goalkeeper – at the beginning of the 1994–95 season. In the same year, Kahn became a first team regular for the German national team as well.

For the rest of his career, Kahn stayed at Bayern Munich and established himself as one of the best goalkeepers. Just a season after joining Bayern, Kahn won his first Silverware after the Bavarian club defeated Bordeaux to lift the UEFA Cup. The trend then followed by anything as he went to play a crucial role in Bayern Munich’s quest of establishing themselves as one of the European heavyweights.

On this day in 2006, the 18th edition of FIFA World Cup kicked off in Germany – the nation which won the right to host the event in July 2000.

As always, 32 teams from 6 confederations qualified for the tournament – took place in 12 different venues across the nation. This tournament was also the second time that Germany hosted the competition with the first being back in 1974 as West Germany. Although Germany failed to win the trophy, the nation experienced a greater sense of patriotism amongst the supporters. It kicked off at Bayern Munich’s home ground Allianz Arena in front of 66,000 spectators with Germany taking on Costa Rica.

Germany’s the manager Jürgen Klinsmann fielded an old school 4-4-2 against Costa Rica’s 5-3-2. In as early as the 6th minute, left-back Philipp Lahm gave his side the lead with a brilliant curler just outside the box. Costa Rica were spot on to respond as just six minutes later, they equalized, courtesy to a goal from Paulo Wanchope.

It didn’t take long for the Germans to take their lead back, with Miroslav Klose scoring the goal. 15 minutes into the second half, the home side extend their advantage with Klose again naming himself on the scoresheet. Just as everyone though it will be an easy win for the Germans, Paulo Wanchope gave Costa Rica a big hope, making in 3-2 in the 73rd minute of the game. The two-goal advantage was yet again restored as midfielder Torsten Frings fired a long-range shot which eventually found the net.

Arguably the greatest spinner which England have produced, Derek Underwood was born on 8th June 1945. Nicknamed ‘Deadly’, such was his immaculate accuracy and penchant to pick wickets on grassy pitches of England. He was more medium pace, than a spinner, bowling at a ferocious pace for a left-arm slow bowler. He won England some memorable Test matches, picking up 123 wickets in the matches which England won.

Underwood’s greatest performance for England came against Australia in 1968, when he took 7 wickets for 50 runs in the second innings to seal a famous victory for England over their fiercest rivals at the Oval in London. He is still regarded as one of the most accurate and patient spinners to have ever graced the game of cricket. He was also a legend at Kent, where at the age of 18 in 1963, he became the youngest bowler to pick over 100 wickets in a first-class season. Overall, he played 676 first-class matches, picking up a mammoth 2465 wickets.

On this day in 1997, Brazil played a 1-1 draw against France in the opening game of the Tournoi de France. Of course, no one remembers the game, but every football fan is well aware of Roberto Carlos’ famous Banana kick that defied every existing law. Well, that was today 20 years ago.

Prior to the 1998 FIFA World Cup, French Football Federation organized a friendly tournament to be played between France, Brazil, England, and Italy. The first game was played between the host France andBrazil in front of more than 28,000 spectators in Lyon’s Stade de Gerland. While the game reached its 20-minute mark, the visitors won a free-kick at about 38 yards out. Defender Roberto Carlos sets his sight on the ball and steps up to take the charge.

Taking a long run, the then Real Madrid man fired off the ball to the left side of the French wall. It certainly looked like the ball was heading way beyond the post, but to everyone’s surprise, it took a drastic curve on its way, and struck the inside of the post, before ending into the back of the net. The jaw-dropping shot left the France goalkeeper Fabian Barthez completely red-faced, as he would have never anticipated such kind of an attempt.

On this day in 1928, the FIFA Congress in Amsterdam decided to organise their own global tournament, which eventually came into existence as the World Cup.

The organisation FIFA – which was formed way back on 21 May 1904 – had been previously organising the sport in the Olympic games and in 1908 in the Summer Olympics in London, football became an official competition, however, it was only played by the amateur players. In 1914, a tournament called “world football championship for amateurs” was agreed to be played in Olympics and this paved the further path for the sport in this grand event.

And in 1920 Summer Olympics, 13 European teams took part and Belgium emerged victorious. The 1924 and 28 edition was conquered by Uruguay and this later became a huge success and eventually, FIFA’s President Jules Rimet started elaborating the idea of staging FIFA World Cup as the grand event. On 28 May 1928, the news was officially confirmed, hence the term FIFA World Cup came into existence.

AC Milan extracted their revenge on Liverpool for the miracle of Istanbul by beating Liverpool 2-1 in the final of the 2007 UEFA Champions League at the Olympic stadium in Greece on 23rd May, 2007. Milan took an early lead thanks to an Andrea Pirlo free-kick which deflected off Filippo Inzaghi. Inzaghi then doubled Milan’s lead in the 82nd minute. Dirk Kuyt scored a late goal in the 89th minute but despite sustained pressure from the Reds, Liverpool could not equalize in the dying minutes, with Milan holding out to win their 7th European Cup.

Much of the build to the match was centered around the historic match between the final between the two teams in 2005 in Istanbul, where Liverpool despite being 3-0 down in the first half, ended up equalizing 3-3 and winning the match on penalties. When Dirk Kuyt equalized in the 89th minute, people were wondering whether AC Milan would again crumble under pressure and concede the equalizer. But the Milanese outfit showed typical Italian grit and steel to hold on in the final minutes to clinch their 7th and so far their last European trophy to make them the most successful Italian club in European competitions.

On this day in 2006, Barcelona defeated Arsenal 2-1 to lift their second ever European trophy.

In what was a star-studded final for the spectators, the Frank Rijkaard led Barcelona edged past Wenger’s men with Julian Belletti scoring the ultimate decider. Barcelona went with a 4-3-3 tactic where the midfield brilliance of Mark van Bommel, Deco and Edmilson supported the attacking unit of Ronaldinho, Giuly and Eto’o. Lionel Messi failed to mark his name into the lineup even after he was given the green flag following his injury.

Arsenal, on the other hand, went with a 4-5-1 tactic where Thierry Henry was given the nod to lead the side and Fredrik Ljungberg was plying his nails right beside the Frenchman.

Arsenal’s title pursuit received a big bow as their shot-stopper Jens Lehmann received his marching orders early in the game after the German fouled Samuel Eto’o outside the box. This, however, didn’t stop the Gunners as in as early as 35th minute, they got the first blood with their defender Sol Cambell heading home the first goal.

May 16th will go down in one of the most controversial days of IPL and Indian cricket in general. On this day in 2013, three Indian bowlers, Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila were arrested by the Delhi Police in connection with the alleged promises made to a bookmaker for spot-fixing claims. The three cricketers were then banned by the BCCI for life before it was overturned by the court later on.

n this day in 2002, Real Madrid outclassed their German opponents Bayer Leverkusen by 1-2 to lift their ninth European Cup/Champions League trophy.

While the German side, Leverkusen, were playing their first ever European final, Real were handling the fixture for a whopping 12th time in their history. Comprising the unbeatable force of Galacticos, Real Madrid came into the game having defeated Bayern Munich and Barcelona in the quarter-final and the semi-final respectively. Bayer Leverkusen, on the other hand, had a tough road as well, as they defeated the English duo of Liverpool and Manchester United in the quarter-final and the semi-final respectively.

Real Madrid, not surprisingly, broke the deadlock with their star man Raúl finding the back of the net. However, their celebration was cut short in less than five minutes as Leverkusen levelled the scoring with their defender Lúcio coming to the rescue.

The 1994 FA Cup final was contested between Manchester United and Chelsea on May 4, 1994 at the Old Wembley stadium in London. Despite a competitive first half, where Chelsea played the better football, Manchester United with the firepower in their squad eventually ran out 4-0 winners. The match was contested in a rainy day in London with Manchester United winning the first Premier League and FA Cup double in their long history.

It was United’s second FA Cup triumph in four years after winning the cup in 1990. They headed into the final having already won the league with an eight point margin over Blackburn Rovers. This victory made them only the fourth team in the 20th century and the sixth team overall to complete the Double. Chelsea, on the other hand, were contesting in the final after 1970 and endured a painful defeat.

On this day in 2003, Brian Lara led West Indies made history by defeating Steve Waugh’s Australia as they chased down the total of 418, which on that date, became the highest chasing total in the test cricket.

The visitors, Australia, were coming on the back of three consecutive victories over West Indies in the four-match test series and came onto the front foot in the final game as well.

Registering a mere total of 240 runs on the board in the first inning, the home side had an advantage at their disposal, but the bowling brilliance of the Kangaroos restricted them to the same total. In the second inning though, the Aussies showed no mercy as both Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden scored their tons and Australia boarded a massive total of 242 runs without losing any wicket.

On this day in 1976, German giants Bayern Munich edged past their French counterpart Saint-Étienne at Hampden Park in Glasgow to lift their third consecutive European Cup.

Having triumphing the tournament in the 1973-74 and 1974-75 season, the Bavarians were firm favourites to win the competition in 1976, however, a hungry Saint-Etienne team were never an easy task. The Les Verts, who were crowned as the Champions of Ligue 1 the same season, came into the game, having defeated Rangers in the second round of the tournament, followed by the triumph over Dynamo Kyiv and PSV Eindhoven.

Bayern Munich, on the other hand, had an easier route comparatively, as they got the better of Malmo, Benfica and Real Madrid with ease.

Coming onto the field in front of 54,670 spectators, the German side started off quite brightly. Midfielder Bernd Dürnberger made a fantastic run from his own half before finding the in-form Gerd Müller into the box. Müller, on his part, found the back of the net, however, his celebration was soon cut short as it was ruled out due to offside. Wrong call though.

Michael Gwyl Bevan was born in Belconnen, Australian Capital Territory on 8th May 1970. Widely regarded as one of the greatest ODI batsmen in the history of the game and the greatest finisher of all time, Bevan introduced the world of cricket to the term, ‘The Finisher’. Michael Bevan had supreme fitness and was perhaps the calmest player under pressure, winning Australia in numerous matches under pressure in the limited over format of the game. His batting style wasn’t particularly glamorous or full of devastating strokeplay but was unassuming and got the job done by nudging the ball around across all corners, taking singles and frustrating bowlers by rotating the strike around.

Kumar Shri Duleepsinhji was one of the greatest batsmen to ever represent England. He has also had a profound influence on Indian cricket. On May 7, 1930, Duleep scored arguably the greatest knock of his career and one of the greatest of all time. He scored a mammoth 333 runs for Sussex against Northants in only 5 hours in Brighton, England.

What made the feat outstanding was that Northants batting in both innings could not even conjure up the number of runs alone scored by Duleepsinhji. They scored 21 runs less than Duleep in the both innings combined. Only three batsmen in the history of the game have scored more runs in a single day than the 333 scored by him. That list is led by the legendary Brian Lara who scored 390 runs in a single day for Warwickshire in his mammoth innings of 501 not out in 1990.

Herbie Taylor was born on 5th May, 1889 in Durban, South Africa. He is widely regarded as the first world-class cricketer which South Africa produced. He is also regarded as the finest player on matting pitches which were used in South Africa in that era. He was the first South African who crossed the 2,500 run mark in Test cricket and was also named as the Wisden cricketer of the year in 1925.

Taylor played 42 Test matches for South Africa, of which he captained them in 18 Tests. He scored 7 Test centuries in his career, all of which came against England. He retired from Test cricket in 1932. After international retirement, Taylor continued to play Test cricket at the domestic level in South Africa. He was regarded as one of the 6 great batsmen in the post-Grace period.

The ‘Superga air disaster’ occurred on May 4th 1949. A three-engined Fiat G.212 of the Avio Linee Italiane airline crashed into the back of the Basilica of Superga that was mounted on the hill of Turin. The plane carried the entire Torino football team. The team had just played a friendly match against S.L. Benfica and was on its way from Lisbon when the aircraft crashed, killing 31 including the entire Torino team which was almost all of the Italy national football team.

The story of the horrific crash began when the aircraft took off from Lisbon on Wednesday 4th May, 1949. When the aircraft took route towards Turin, the weather situation began to get hectic with strong south-west wind gusts, poor horizontal visibility and clouds almost touching the ground as communicated by the airport authorities. As the plane began to approach 9 miles away from the runway at the Turin-Aeritalia Airport, at 305 miles above sea level; the Basilica of Superga lay just north of there, at 669 miles above sea level. As the plane made a turn to the left and put in horizontal flight to prepare for landing, it crashed straight into the embankment of the Basilica of Superga.

On this day in 1998, Italian giants Inter Milan defeated their Serie A counterpart Lazio to lift their third UEFA Cup trophy.

It was an all-Italian final for the third time till that date. Inter Milan had previously won the title in 1991 when they faced of AS Roma, then again in 1994 against Casino Salzburg. In the year 1997, they came close to making it three, however, German giants FC Schalke got the better of La Beneamata that night.

Lazio, on their part, played their first ever final.

The UEFA officials, for the first time, stranded their two-legged format for this game and a crowd of near to 44,000 turned out at the Parc des Princes in Paris. Lazio carried an upper hand in the game, having won their previous Serie A fixture against Luigi Simoni’s men 3-0 at Rome and drawing 1-1 in Milan.

In as early as 5th minute, Inter got their breakthrough after Iván Zamorano got the better of Lazio’s keeper Luca Marchegiani from a close range. Zamorano almost made it two soon after the restart, but the Chilean’s shot got brushed off the frame of the post. Inter’s defender Javier Zanetti gave his side a comfort in the hour’s mark with a thunderous right-foot volley from the edge of the box.

Ravi Bopara was born on May 4, 1985, in Forest Gate, London. Bopara was long hailed as a future batting superstar for England but was dogged by inconsistency throughout his career. Elegant on the eye and with wristy stroke-making in his repertoire, Bopara established himself in the England ODI team. With the talent which he had, everyone expected him to become a fixture of the English middle order in Test cricket for years, but unfortunately, he could never live up to the hype which surrounded him.

Bopara played 13 Test matches for England scoring 575 runs at an average of 31.94 with three centuries to his name. He played his last Test for England in 2012 against South Africa, after which he was dropped for poor form. He has had a much more successful ODI career, playing 120 matches, scoring 2695 runs at an average of 30.62 with one century. His medium pace bowling has also proved to be an asset in the shorter format of the game picking up 40 wickets. Though a change in philosophy by England in the shorter formats has meant that Bopara hasn’t played an ODI game since 2015.

On this day in 1998, the now English giant in Manchester City were relegated to the third-tier of English football.

This was the new low for the Sky Blues as this was their second relegation in three years. Back in 1996, they were brushed out of the Premier League and this led to several managerial chances in the team. After sacking Alan Ball at the start of the 1966-97 season, the Citizens brought Steve Coppell – who resigned just a few weeks later, claiming that the task is too stressful.

Then came Frank Clark, and the former Nottingham man managed to secure a 14th place finish in the 1996-97 season, however, with City being highly inconsistent, Clark was sacked from the helm and on came Joe Royle.

The side continued to struggle even after several changes and eventually, on this day in 1998, they were relegated to the third tier on the final day of the season. Having 45 points at their disposal, they started off the game sitting second bottom of the log, one point behind Port Vale, Portsmouth, and Stoke City. They, however, did manage to beat the Potters 5-2, but with Port Vale and Portsmouth also winning the game, City ended their season sitting the third bottom on the log, hence, were relegated to the third tier.

On this day in 1975, one of the biggest sporting and fashion icons in David Beckham was born in London, England. Born to Sandra Georgina, a hairdresser, and David Edward Alan “Ted” Beckham, a kitchen fitter, young David was bound to create history in sport the sport. In his school days, his teachers used to ask ‘What do you want to do when you’re older?’ To which the young David used to reply: ‘I want to be a footballer.’ And they’d say, ‘No, what do you really want to do, for a job?’ But that was the only thing I ever wanted to do.’

With his parents being an avid Manchester United supporters, David had the love for the Devils inherited in him. Back in July 1991, Beckham joined the youth setup of Manchester United and played alongside Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, Phil Neville, Gary Neville and Nicky Butt under the tutelage of Eric Harrison and helped his team to lift the Youth FA Cup in May 1992. Following his exploits in the youth system, Beckham was handed his senior team debut in September 1992. His first team appearances were far and between, hence, he was loaned out to Preston North End in the 1994-95 season to gain some first team experience.

Gordon Greenidge, one of the finest opening batsman in the history of cricket was born on 1st May 1951. He established one of the great opening partnerships in the history of world cricket along with Desmond Haynes for the great West Indies team of the 70’s and the 80’s. When he was 12, Greenidge’s parents moved to Reading in England, making him eligible to play for England as well. But he opted to play for his parent nations which meant that instead of Gooch and Greenidge, world cricket got to witness the devastating opening partnership between Greenidge and Haynes. Greenidge was the more aggressive batsman of the pair.

It is a general tendency that great cricketers came out of countries which were equally great at playing the sport. This was not the case with Andy Flower. Arguably Zimbabwe’s best batsman, Andy Flower was born today.

One of the most talented batsman of the current generation of Indian cricketers, Rohit Sharma was born on 30th April, 1987. Sharma has established himself as a vital member of the current Indian ODI and T20I set-up. He is the only man in ODI history to have scored two double centuries in the shorter format of the game.

Despit his talents, Rohit has often cut a frustrating figure for the millions of Indian Cricket Team fans. Once regarded as the successor of Sachin Tendulkar in Indian cricket due to his batting elegance, his inconsistencies have seen the mantle well and truly shift to Virat Kohli as the man to carry Indian cricket on his shoulders. He also has been a disappointment in the Test arena so far but still has planty of time to set the record straight.

On this day in 1978, Borussia Mönchengladbach defeated Borussia Dortmund 12-0, which till date, is the record Bundesliga win. In the process, the Die Borussen surpassed their own record of a highest marginal win which was an 11-0 win over Schalke in 1967.

During the era Mönchengladbach were one of the Bundesliga heavyweights, having won the league in 1970, 1971, 1975, 1976, and 1977. The Dortmund fixture was the final one of the 1977-78 season and were level on points with the first placed Köln. Only thing that separated these two sides was the fact that Köln were carrying a ten-goal advantage. And while Mönchengladbach were playing Dortmund, Köln were scheduled to play the bottom-placed St. Pauli.

The visiting team, Dortmund, were playing with their second-choice shot-stopper Peter Endrulat – who was reportedly told by the Yellow wall, earlier that day, that his contract will not be renewed.

With that being said and done, the home team scored six goals- with goals coming from Jupp Heynckes (1′, 12′, 32′), Carsten Nielsen (13′), Karl Del’Haye (22′), and Herbert Wimmer (38′) – in the first half of the game. When the teams went into the dugout, Dortmund’s then manager Otto Rehhagel asked Endrulat whether he wants to get snubbed off, but the Weidenau stopper decided to stay onto the pitch, something which he regretted later.

The hopes of a nation, the child of a billion, the reason for many a existence, Sachin Tendulkar was born on this day in 1973. He was one in a million and indeed he was when he was chosen to represent India at an early age of 16. Sachin Tendulkar was born on April 24, 1973 in Mumbai. Tendulkar played his first international game when he was just 16. It was a Test match against Pakistan on November 15, 1989. Yes, he was just 16 years of age about to face one of the best pace attacks in the world.
Tendulkar played in 200 Test matches and scored 15921 runs at an average of 53.78. His ODI records were as amazing as his Tests are. He played in 463 ODIs, and scored 18426 runs. Statistics does justice to SRT’s career like nothing else.

M Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru had seen enough of fireworks. And this day was not going to be any different. This day in 2013 when Chris Gayle thought of having some fun in the middle. The Jamaican powerhouse smashed 175 runs in just 66 balls in an IPL game, on this day, in 2013. It remains the highest score by any player in the history of the IPL and the entire world bowed down to Chris Gayle’s feet.

On this day in 1988, Juan Manuel Mata García was born. Born to Juan Manuel Mata Rodríguez – his father – who too was a professional footballer, young Juan was bound to create noises in the sport.

Raised in Oviedo, Juan loved playing table-tennis during his early years. Like his father, he joined Real Oviedo and after spending three years with the academy, he switched to Real Madrid Castilla. A year after, he saw himself getting released by the club a year after and then he joined the fellow La Liga side Valencia. After making near to 200 appearances in span of four years and winning a Copa Del Rey medal, the Spaniard was shipped off to the Premier League club Chelsea. At that time, it was reported that Valencia were almost bankrupt and that was the reason they had to sell their star men Mata, David Silva and David Villa.

Moving to a new environment was near an easy task, but Mata took it like fish takes to water. In his very first season, he bagged 12 goals, helping his team to win the Champions League crown and he himself won Chelsea’s Player of the Year award. Following year brought more fruition as he scored 20 goals in all competition and defended his name Chelsea’s Player of the Year and added UEFA Europa League title to his name. And with Jose Mourinho coming back at the Bridge the following year, he was brushed off to Manchester United in January 2014.

On April 27, 2002, Shoaib Akhtar, the mercurial Pakistani pacer bowled the fastest recorded delivery in cricket, at that time in cricket history. This monumental event occurred in Pakistan’s ODI encounter against New Zealand in Lahore. The batsman facing the historic delivery was Craig McMillan. The ball was recorded at an astounding speed at 100.04mph (161kph).

This feat though was not recognized by the ICC as they deemed the measuring tool of the delivery as not standard. Before this delivery, the previous fastest delivery recorded in cricket history was ball bowled at 99.8mph by Australia’s Jeff Thomson in 1975, though the ball wasn’t bowled in a cricket match. Akhtar would then go on to break his own record in 2003 against England on 22 February 2003 in a World Cup match at Newlands, Cape Town, South Africa. The speed of that delivery was 161.3 km/h (100.23 mph) and is still the fastest ever ball recorded in cricket history.

On this day in 1903, Spanish club Atletico Madrid was founded by three Basque students living in Madrid.

In the beginning, Athletic Club de Madrid – club’s initial name – played in a blue and white jersey, similar to Athletic Bilbao, however, by 1911, they switched to the red and white stripes, which is still their tradition. There are quite a few theories behind their switch and one of them is the fact that red and white striped shirt, at that time, were the cheapest stripes to make. The reason being, it was used to make bed mattresses, and the unused cloth was easily converted into football shirts.

Atletico Madrid, initially being a youth branch of Athletic Bilbao, became an independent club in 1921. The club began playing at Ronda de Vallecas and by 1966, they moved to Estadio Vicente Calderón. Furthermore, with them being the runners-up of Copa Del Rey in 1921 and 1926, they were invited to join the Primera División of La Liga in 1928.

In their first season in La Liga, they were managed by an England international, Fred Pentland. The club had their ups and downs during the tenure as they had to face the relegation to lower league, but soon they went back on track. Finally in 1939-40 season, they won the league title and defended it in quick succession.

Stephen Fleming scored his highest individual score in Test cricket, a brave 274, on this day, against Sri Lanka. Brave because this knock came against one of the deadliest spin-bowling attack at that time in their own backyard.

The fact that Fleming batted for almost two days, spanning more than ten hours, speaks for his immense dedication and level of patience. For these two days, he kept on negating the off spin of Muttiah Muralitharan and the seam bowling of Chaminda Vaas. These bowlers don’t treat batsmen kindly on these pitches but Fleming made sure that they themselves knew what being unkind means to others on a cricket pitch.

Thanks to this valiant innings, New Zealand posted 515 for 7 on the board in the first innings. He played another resilient knock in the second innings where he batted for 303 minutes, and scored just an unbeaten 69. This innings was nothing less than the first innings heroics.

Fleming known for his silent demeanour and textbook style cricket led the New Zealand side for almost 10 years. His style of play suited the Test cricket format more. However, he did well across all formats.

The day Pakistan waited for a long time. The day when Pakistan lifted the ODI World Cup for the first time. Two months from this day, nobody gave Pakistan any chance of doing well in the tournament. They were going to play in Australia, a place where

On this day in 2010, Roy Hodgson’s led Fulham defeated European heavyweights Juventus in the Europa League’s round of 16 with the score line reading 4-1.

Following their 3-1 defeat in the first leg of the competition, Fulham went into the fixture as the second best. The Turin-based club had a perfect start as David Trezeguet gave his side the lead inside opening two minutes, extending their aggregate lead to 4-1.

Australian all-rounder James Faulkner was born on this day in 1990. Faulkner will be remembered in the Australia cricketing history book for his brilliant performance with the ball in the 2015 ODI World Cup final. His amazing ability to vary his pace

New Zealand’s ‘Mr. Dependable’ for a long time, Stephen Fleming played one of the best Test knocks of his career on this day in 2003. That it came from a New Zealander in alien conditions of Sri Lanka made this knock even more special.

Zimbabwe posted the lowest total in ODIs on this day in 2004. Sri Lanka bowled the African nation on just 35 in just 18 overs. The match was over in just 27. 2 overs as Sri Lanka chased the target down in 9.2 overs.

The first ball of the Indian Premier League was bowled today in Bengaluru amidst crazy fanfare. The Indian Premier League was Lalit Modi’s ambitious project, who once was the BCCI vice-president. However, only three years after the inauguration of the league, he was shown doors for he was charged for corruption.

The tall and fiery Australian bowler, Jason Gillespie was born on this day in 1975. Gillespie was overshadowed throughout his career because of other greats in the team- Glenn McGrath and Brett Lee. However, the right-arm pacer always made people loo

Pakistan cricket of the 90’s was a reason to be watched. While this decade has been dominated by their unbelievably good crop of fast bowlers, the 90s took the shine for their star-studded batting line-up. Right from a Saeed Anwar to an Ijaz Ahmed, the Pakistani batting had developed quite a reputation. During that era, two of Pakistan’s best batsmen of the 90s, Inzamam-ul-Haq and Aamer Sohail got together to add 263 runs for the second wicket, on this day in 1994 against New Zealand in Sharjah.

One of the greatest all-rounders to come out of New Zealand, Richard Hadlee recorded his best score on this day in 1987. The innings came against a lowly Sri Lanka but it was full of master class. Hadlee’s 151 turned out to be the best innings of his career.

This was the setting cricket lovers in India and Australia would pay huge bucks to watch. This was a battle of the century. The battle of the best leg-spinner in the world with best batsman of the era. Sachin Tendulkar versus Shane Warne. The beautiful stadium of Sharjah added to the script.

Pakistan’s Salim Malik was born today in 1963. With 5768 Test runs and 7170 ODI runs, Malik would have retired as one of the legends of the game but it was not to be. Involvement in a match-fixing scandal ruined his image. He was given a life ban for the same. However, the ban was lifted after eight years but it was too late for him to make a comeback on the ground.

The first bowler to reach the impossible-sounding 800 Test wicket mark was born today in 1972. Muttiah Muralitharan was magic on the field and off the field, he continues remaining as one of the best souls to have played the game.

After becoming one of the hottest prospects in World Cricket’s bowling circuit, Mohammad Amir ruined the stage for himself when he was found guilty of spot-fixing and was thereafter banned for 5 years. But his comeback story when he took the field against New Zealand, after five long years, has been one of the biggest spoken incidents in cricket history, after his no-ball itself.

Back in 1994 when Brian Lara had set a world record for the most runs scored by a batsman in an innings, it was believed that only Lara himself could break it. The West Indian team back then was a magnificent team in every aspect of the game. But Brian Lara was a diamond that stood among the precious of the precious.
But after the retirement of the greats of the West Indies lineup, they did not really find the same calibre and West Indies were on a decline.

South Africa’s utility player and go-to guy in tough circumstances, JP Duminy was born on 14 April 1984. He has rescued South Africa many times when they were in muddy waters. He became known during the South African under-19s tour to England has always promised to do something big for South African cricket.

On this day in 1986, there were fireworks at St. John’s, Antigua. The spectators at inside the stadium could not believe their eyes. There was rampage on and Antigua’s own son was the one responsible. He was Vivian Richards. This was a Test match between West Indies and England in April of 1986 and innings talked about here spoke high volumes of the caliber of Vivian Richards. The swagger and style shook hands when he played his shots and this innings was no different.

A proud day in the Waugh family as Steve and Mark became the first twins in the history of cricket to appear together in a Test match.They went on to play 104 Test matches together. Mark Waugh played 128 Tests and 244 ODIs and scored 8029 and 8500 runs respectively while Steve Waugh played 168 Test matches and 325 ODIs scoring 10927 and 7569 runs respectively.

Dilip Vengsarkar was born on April 6, 1956. The pivot of Indian Cricket during his time, Dilip Vengsarkar was one of the most prolific Indian batsmen to ever grace the game. He made the No.3 spot in the batting order his own and was a steady rock against any bowling unit in the world when he played.

Loyal, humble and chivalrous, Alan Knott is referred by many as the greatest wicket-keeper ever in cricket. Nimble, precise and smooth in everything that he did, Alan Knott was the master with the gloves.

Raymond Illingworth, the captain when England regained the Ashes in Australia in 1970-71, said of Knott’s work that it was simply not possible to keep wicket better than he did on that tour. Alan Knott never gained the right kind of attention but he was someone who always found it difficult to take the attention of him. As much as the current generation of wicket-keepers of the likes of Alec Stewart, Craig Kieswetter, Matt Prior and Jos Buttler have all stood in England colours, the generations before will never forget Alan Knott.

An undoubted perfectionist and a man whose voice still lingers soothingly when it comes to cricket, Richie Benaud passed away on April 10 2015. Regarded as the epitome of sophistication and perfection, Benaud was called by all as the voice of Cricket.

Described as the best young player by Sir Richard Hadlee’s brother Dayle Hadlee, Ian Bell was born on 11 April 1982. Although he was considered as a great young talent, there were doubts that roamed around his career as he constantly failed to covert his steady 50’s into centuries.

Virender Sehwag reached his triple ton on this day in 2004 in Multan against Pakistan. What makes the triple hundred more special is the fact that he smashed a six to reach the landmark. Knowing Sehwag this was not surprising but doing this required

Former England wicket-keeper Matt Prior saved a Test match for England at Auckland on this day in 2013, denying a series win for New Zealand. The Kiwis had not won a single match against a top-side in six years and in this match they looked like brea

Sachin Tendulkar played as an opener in ODIs for the first time and the rest, as they say, is history. Sachin then went on to become one of the most prolific openers in the history of the limited-format game. Along with Sourav Ganguly, the duo became a force to reckon with. Navjot Singh Sidhu, the regular opener for India, had to miss this game because of a neck injury. Skipper Mohammad Azharuddin took the decision to make Sachin open the innings. The decision that changed everything for the cricketer and Indian team.

India defeated Australia in the 2011 ODI World Cup quarter-final in Ahmedabad on this day in 2011. The match turned out to be the last ODI for Ponting as captain. After Australia exited from the World Cup, Ponting gave his resignation as the captain

India had waited long for this day. So did Pakistan. The neighbours took on each other on this day in the semi-final of the 2011 ODI World Cup in Mohali.

The pressure was immense, the rush of blood was high and the stakes were huge. It was an important game for both the sides. Media had built a huge hype for the game and it could be seen on all the players when they came out of the team bus ahead of the match, except Virender Sehwag. He came out with his headphones on and whistling. This was yet another game for him where he was to give India a kickstart.

A South Africa batting maestro was born on this day. The name is Hashim Amla. Amla is the first cricketer of India descent to play for South Africa. Making his debut against India in 2004-05, Amla announced his arrival at big stage. However, his debut series was not worth remembering.

He got a second chance as his talent was tough to ignore by the selectors and he lived up to everyone’s expectation when he scored a brilliant 149 against New Zealand. That was a start of a glorious career for him.

Cricket is a cruel game sometimes. South Africa relate to this phrase almost in every World Cup after since 1992. The 1992 World Cup started their bad luck in the tournament. The semi-final clash against England saw how the D/L system dented their ho

At a time when South Africa was struggling for a genuine spinner in the side, Nicky Boje came as a breath of fresh air. The left-arm spinner was born on this day in 1973. Despite being South Africa’s only spin bowling option for 6 years, Boje’s recor

Bangladesh’s best batsman till date, Tamim Iqbal was born on this day in 1989. Iqbal rose to fame when Bangladesh defeated India in the 2007 ODI World Cup. He scored runs at brisk pace in the match. He was hitting Zaheer Khan for sixes on front foot.

A giant man walked-in at his own pace to bat for the first time in international cricket. He was Inzamam-ul-Haq, one of the best batsmen to come out of Pakistan. Imran Khan picked him in the 1992 World Cup squad amidst heavy criticism. Only Imran Kha

The second double hundred was scored on this day in 2015 by New Zealand’s Martin Guptill. This was also the first double-hundred that came from the bat of a Kiwi batsman. He scored 237 runs in the match, which stands as the highest score in the World

Australia defeated India in 2003 ODI World Cup final on this day in 2003 in Johannesburg. Australia, the defending champions, were asked to bowl first after India won the toss in the final. Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden started the assault which lasted for 14 overs. By then Australia has made 106 runs. Hayden and Gilchrist were back in the hut by the 20th over. However, that did not stop the Australian run-scoring. Skipper Ponting took it from where the openers had left. He along with Damien Martyn put on 234 runs for the fourth wicket and posted 358 runs on the board.

India completed Australian whitewash on this day in 2013 after winning the fourth and the last Test in Delhi. The Test match, however, was not supposed to end today but a dusty pitch and a struggling Australian side helped India finish the game in just 3 days.

A sad in cricket. After the day when Pakistan faced embarrassment in hands of Ireland, their coach Bob Woolmer was found unconscious in his hotel room and as soon as he was taken to the hospital, he was declared dead. The news had shocked the whole c

Known for his sound batting technique and an ability to score runs in challenging conditions, Murali Vijay was born on April 1 1984. Vijay has earned ‘Monk’ as his nickname possibly because of his calmness, patience and composure.

England’s best left-arm spinner, Ashley Giles was born on this day in 1973. Giles made his test debut for England against South Africa in 1998. He was a decent spinner of the cricket ball and achieved success when England toured Sri Lanka and Pakista